Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Scream meets YA in this hotly-anticipated new novel from the bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss.One-by-one, the students of Osborne High are dying in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasing and grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and the hunt intensifies for the killer, the dark secrets among them must finally be confronted.International bestselling author Stephanie Perkins returns with a fresh take on the classic teen slasher story that’s fun, quick-witted, and completely impossible to put down.

When I first heard about this book, I was so excited. I never read horror or thriller novels, but, come on, it's Stephanie Perkins! I had to read it! Right before picking this up, though, I saw a few early reviews that said this wasn't everything they wanted it to be. While I did lower my expectations going in, I was still a bit disappointed with how this book turned out.

Everything seems fine in the small town of Osborne until teens from Osborne high are being killed one by one. The slaughtered students seem to have nothing in common and everyone is in fear for their lives. Who is this killer? And who will be his next victim?

Like I said, I lowered my expectations going into this one and tried to keep an open mind. In the beginning, the whole "thriller" part of it didn't feel so thrilling to me. I never once felt scared and at one point actually laughed out loud during a part I was pretty sure wasn't supposed to be funny that involved a murder attempting to happen. I didn't really care about any of the characters, especially Makani. She had this huge dark secret that I felt was not all that satisfying when it was revealed. I mean, that was really it? I expected this book to go all out and it was just tame and not that impressive.

What surprised me about this book was how much it centered around the physical relationship of our main character. I mean, there was a lot of talk about sex. There weren't necessarily explicit scenes, but our main character had a really physical relationship with someone and she obsessed about it pretty much the whole book. Then, at the end, I was really disappointed with the choices Stephanie Perkins made in the last few pages when deciding who lived and who died. Everything seemed to happen way too quickly and I really didn't like the reason the killer was choosing who to murder. It seemed so anti-climatic and I just expected more. While this was more of a 2.5 star read for, I still found myself wanting to get to the end just to figure out the connection between all of the murders.

Overall, I was definitely expecting a lot more out of this one. As a huge scaredy-cat when it comes to anything horror or scary, I never once felt any fear when reading this book. I wanted more of an edgy story that really shocked me, but instead I felt underwhelmed when I finished. If you're looking for your next thrilling, horror-filled read, I wouldn't jump for this one.

Enter for a chance to be one (1) of three (3) winners to receive a hardcover copy of There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins. (ARV: $17.99 each).

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter between 12:00 AM Eastern Time on September 18, 2017 and 12:00 AM on October 16, 2017. Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older. Winners will be selected at random on or about October 18, 2017. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.